US decision to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal will be wrong - lower house speaker

Speaker of Russia’s State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin arrived in Tehran for an official visit on Monday, during which he will meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Speaker of Iran’s Majlis

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TEHRAN, April 9. /TASS/. Speaker of Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin has expressed the hope that common sense will prevail in the US, and it will not withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program.

The speaker arrived in Tehran for an official visit on Monday, during which he will meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Speaker of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) Ali Larijani and open a plenary meeting of the Russian-Iranian Business Forum.

"That will be a wrong decision, if America makes it," Volodin told Iran’s television, when asked how he felt about Washington’s stance on the issue and the consequences of its potential withdrawal from the nuclear deal. "Moreover, this decision is going to affect many countries. I hope common sense will prevail, and the US will refrain from such steps."

After that, the journalist asked the speaker’s opinion on whether the deal would continue to be in effect, if Washington withdraws from it, while other countries continue to comply with its provisions. "There is a considerable interest on the part of all countries in making sure that the agreement continues to be in effect to such an extent," Volodin pointed out. He also called for "discussing a positive scenario" and "talking about the consequences, if the US resorts to severing ties in this sphere."

The deal on Iran’s nuclear program was reached between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertook to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange of the removal of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program.

On January 12, 2018, US President Donald Trump said that the US would withdraw from the JCPOA if changes were not brought into it. In his words, he was "waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal.".